from the for-the-lulz dept

Things just keep getting more ridiculous with the reaction of governments to things like Anonymous and LulzSec. The latest is that Simon Moores, a UK government "advisor" on online crime issues, is warning that the KGB might "infiltrate" LulzSec:

“If you have a LulzSec or an Anonymous that is perhaps being manipulated by a foreign actor, it takes us back to the days of the Stasi and the KGB, which were manipulating [anti-nulear campaign group] CND quite easily from Moscow,” he said, referring to reports that the anti-nuclear peace movement was unwittingly compromised and manipulated by Kremlin machinations.

According to Moores, mustering popular support for an issue through online hacktivist groups and forums could be used as a tool to drive policy to perform actions that furthered a country's interests.

This is based on... what? It appears absolutely nothing. It appears to be pure conjecture of what could happen, even though it's extremely unlikely. While it could be argued that some members of these groups can be influenced and pushed in certain directions, it goes pretty far to then assume that leads to an effective infiltration and use by foreign powers.

Re:

With the general mentality of Anonymous being that of Goku from dragon ball Z mixed with a little rebellion ...

"Goku's speach - "I am the hope of the universe. I am the answer to all living things that cry out for peace. I am protector of the innocent. I am the light in the darkness. I am truth. Ally to good! Nightmare to you!""

This seems like a propaganda piece mean't to scare people away from groups like Lulzsec and anonymous. Even if foreign intelligence types did infiltrate these groups, they would have to be mirror the mob's goals and find it is almost impossible to control it.

Re: Total Fail

"All in all, the original article is a total fail."

Correct. The quoted "expert", Simon Moores, is clearly displaying bureaucratic incompetence. He has no understanding of present day reality or history. The poor old taxpayer does not need to pay for the ranting of nincompoops. Ranting is available for free 24/7 on the internet. The guy should be sacked.

Re: Re: Total Fail

He isn't very bright. When you are dealing with mobs, online or IRL, they are impossible to control. They splinter, they merge, and they have a life of their own. In the case of Anonymous and Lulzsec, they have ideals which are hard to overcome, no matter how many sock puppets you are running. Expect more of these FUD articles in the future as they try their best to control the uncontrollable.

Re: Re: What if LulzSec or Anonymous is being manipulated by...

It's very popular in Russia for officials to say that activists and various NGO are funded by "foreign elements", Department of State is most popular, although Foreign Office also has it's part in this kind of rhetoric.

It's not just Russian officials. It's a problem for NGOs all over the world.

Like the CIA using vaccine shots to hunt down Osama. Partial vaccination and a blood check to test for DNA to see if they're is a blood relation. That made the news a couple weeks ago. Idiotic crap like that just fuels the fire that kooks who are scared of vaccinations want. It's a legitimate problem at knocking out diseases. Maybe it's just crazy ramblings after "They" put fluoride in our water.

So considering Aaron Barr had his whole world implode for threatening to name "members", I wonder how many red things are going to get delivered to this guys house.

That or he is secretly hoping they will have done goofed. And he will have the cyberpolice backtracing them because the consequences will never be the same.

Advisers like this could be why the world is so screwed up right now. We have terrorism "experts" who treat terrorists like a foriegn nation, rather than the loose grouping they are. We have comptuer "experts" who claim we need stronger security laws, while they themselves practice the worst possible security practices.

The internets is serious business, and I really wish people would learn to ignore the experts and get educated themselves, rather than just enjoy cute cat pictures.

Re:

Those of us over 50 suggest that all elected and appointed officials should be subject to intelligence and literacy testing. Any that cannot (let's say) name all 50 states, state the Pythagorean theorem, convert Celsius to Fahrenheit and explain why "Yalta" was a very important word in the late 40's should be demoted...whether they're 60 or 20.

Re: Re:

Does it matter?

The problem is not that there are no intelligent people in there, there is, the problem is the culture inside that system, that override the individual intelligence and put everybody on the dumb-mob-mode also there is the problem of legal-bribes called lobbying, no politico will go against those who fund his campaign that is a structural problem with the system not the people in it.

Manipulate?

Positioning

Simon Moores isn't an idiot, nor does he believe his own statement, which was undoubtedly prepared for him. It's just standard Government tactics, the kind the British government does all the time. He's setting up a defensive position from behind which the Government can refuse to listen to - let alone concede - anything the group has to say, no matter how much public support they have.

How do you infiltrate?

How do you infiltrate something that isn't even an organized group? And manipulating them would be like herding cats, you can get a few to do what you want, but eventually you're gonna run out of tuna.